As we close out this year, 2013, the staff here at Speak-Ez would like to offer a tribute to a member of the community that passed away on July 13th — Mr. Robert Smith. He left for future members of the Speak-Ez community many witty and enlightening posts. He sure was an interesting fella and he's going to be missed in 2014 and the years that follow.

Mr. Smith's User ID here at Speak-Ez was "smitty" and you can click here:

And you will see smitty listed second from the bottom on page one, which means he was one of our early members. I thinks it's better for you to go through that page first, because you can see he has 5 stars and 3378 posts. Just click on his name and you will go to a page where you can then search through the posts he did.

We'd also like to copy here the obituary from Providence's site:

Smith, Robert (Edwin) Jul 13, 1930 - Jul 13, 2013 Born July 13th, 1930 in Saskatoon, Sask and passed away July 13th, 2013 in Penticton General Hospital at the age of 83. Bob was an excellent marksman and enjoyed teaching his skills to others. He will be missed by everyone...

You lived a simple, full wonderful life and we can learn from your example, thank you for sharing your life experiences. Your love of motorbikes, guns and safe handling, gardening, speedskating, music to mention a few touched us all and we have learned so much from you.

Turn it up, turn it up, little bit higher radioTurn it up, turn it up, so you know, radio

Smitty seemed like that familiar neighbour that had several adventures and was a grounded person. He wrote some tales in the context of the decades he lived and now might not be familiar stories to many--unless you already knew someone who rode the rails, harvested crops, loved outdoor sports, and had people who appreciated him.

Farewell, Smitty-we'll miss you on the forum. May you have sunny skies and open roads always.

"Hello, old friend." A greeting appropriate to the feeling that Smitty was sharing something with friends when he was posting on Speak-Ez forum. Smitty was a part of the forum from the start and I am missing his contributions, especially banter on his favourite dishes.

He really liked his mother's steamed carrot pudding. Let me think he had his favourite dessert with his folks in the afterlife for Christmas, as they are all together now.